G-Shock #21: Though Positive Yellow DW-6630B

Casio has something with the color yellow. In 1992 Casio introduced the first G-Shocks with colors, the yellow DW-5600C-9B and the blue marbled “winter Premium” DW-5600D-1. In 1994 Casio released the first “round basic model’, the DW-6600. I think it was around this time Casio became unstoppable in releasing nice colored G-Shock models.

Yellow is of course a great color. I can only think positive associations with this color. I live on a agricultural island. When riding on my bicycle in summer, I see the bright sun shine over the golden barley fields. My view of good times in summer. When I am on holidays in France, I very much enjoy driving along the huge sunflower fields. I think that yellow is particularly a color that makes you feel good. I once read an interview in an old G-Shock magazine, where one of the designers of G-Shock was interviewed. Although the text was in Japanese (and I don’t have a clue where that interview was published), it was pretty clear that the designer called this color “Positive Yellow”. In 1997 Casio released the Auréle collaboration model. The phrase “Positive Yellow” was even printed on the box.

This DW-6630B-9 was released in November 1994. It was released together with a purple and a blue version, but this yellow version was far popular than the other two. Casio released G-Shock in Europe in October 1994, so this was one of the first colorful G-Shocks available here, specially in Germany. It was sold in great numbers. You still can find many of them in used condition on eBay. In the past you could have them between €10 and €20 and I think that if you want to have one now, if you pay more than €30, it is over priced.

Sjors would not be Sjors, if he had not a few of these. About 10 years ago it was not an exception that 5 -10 of these were on eBay auctions simultaneously. I just did a quick search and I found one in pretty reasonable condition on the first result page with “G-Shock” as search phrase and another one in moderate condition.

The coolest part of this watch is also the most vulnerable. It’s the face protector. This piece of metal wire is coated black, but over time the black coating chips off. If you want to baby your watch, you might not like this, but as a beater, it only adds to the though look of the watch. It seems this watch was at first not intend to be distributed outside Japan. in the ring around the display you can clearly see the text “Fox Fire”. Fox Fire is the Japanese name for “Illuminator”. It means the watch has an EL backlight. It might not be very important to write such a text on the display, but the DW-6630B is a version of the DW-6600 and the DW-6600 was the first G-Shock with an Electro Luminescent backlight.

The backlight of the DW-6600 is well known. It is probably the brightest EL backlight on a G-Shock. You almost can use it as a flash light. It even got a Flash Alarm on board. If this feature is activated, the EL lights up when an Alarm sounds. As on many DW-660o, a big G is shown in the EL backlight, but unlike the usual red, this G is yellow.

So, what do we find on board. The DW-6630B comes with the 1199 module, the same module as found on the DW-6600. It’s pretty basic. An Alarm function, a 60 minute Countdown Timer and a 24 hour Stopwatch. In all modes the time is shown, which is something some people like. It is indeed handy when you are using your Stopwatch to time several events or are monitoring a longer countdown, though, with only a 60 minute capacity, what’s long.

The LCD is shown in one big display. The display is divided in three area. The upper part shows the date in Time Keeping function and the mode and current time in other modes. The bottom part shows all the time functions. The middle part shows the progression of time in two layers. The upper part counts the 10 seconds, the lower part the seconds, There are only 5 arrows, but they change up and down. Some people think these animations are a waste of space, but I think it is nice to see the time progression on the display. You can compare it with the progression of a seconds hand on an analog wristwatch. I never heard anybody complain about the presence of that. For a long time Casio used both DW-6600’s and DW-6900’s for their special releases, but in the past years the DW-6600 has not been used anymore. It seems even that the complete line has discontinued.

The DW-6630B-9 is a fun watch to wear. Not real a watch to pet. The face protector challenge you to use this watch during extreme conditions. The yellow color won’t stop you. I once saw an interview with artist Paul McArthy, known for his confronting art, including installations and live painting. That DW-6630B would probably have been beat up a lot, but it looked in still good condition of television. Finding a mint one, will be almost a mission impossible, but a nice used one, can still be found real cheap. After almost 19 year, you might even wonder how many of those were sold in the mid 90s. If it's wise to buy one? The resin of these watches will become victim of resin rot probably more sooner than later.  Actually, one of mine already has. Still, it's a fun model. The purple model was also sold in Europe. Although not real rare, they are not that easy to find anymore. I never have seen a blue model in Europe, so I guess this was a Japan Domestic model. Not a big problem for me. I much rather have a yellow G-Shock, then a blue one.

G-Shock #14: Gundam

In my series of Techno and Gundam models the DW-6400 can’t be absent. Casio has a reputation of futuristic designs for G-Shocks. While the AW-550 in 1992 already looked a bit odd, the January 1994 DW-6400 looked like it was from another planet. Not strange that this model got the nickname “Gundam” in Japan.

The animated series Gundam is not known in my country and I think this goes for whole Europe. This show is popular in the he US and Japan. This animated series of about war between giant “mecha” robots, called “Mobile Suits”. Although I do not see the direct resemblance, it is said that the case of the DW-6400 looks like the head of an Mobile suit.

In 1995 a DW-6400 featured in the movie Hackers, on the wrist of a boy friend of Kate Libby/"Acid Burn" (Angelina Jolie) at an Arcade hall in the beginning of the movie.

In 2008 fashion brand HTML (Hobby Tasteful Merchandise Laboratory) has released a series of special 25th anniversary T-Shirts. One of them was this T-Shirt with on the front “G-SHOCK” and “HTML” in the style of the Gundam logo and on the back a giant Mobile Suit, with the head replaced by the case of a DW-6400.

In January 1994 Casio released two DW-6400 models, the DW-6400B-1 and the DW-6400C-1. These were the only two models that Casio produced. As I have only seen the DW-6400C version, I think this model was made in much bigger numbers and was probably the only export model. A little strange detail is that the resin used on the 6400C is a bit khaki greenish. It would have maybe been better if the suffix was -3, instead of -1.

Although the official description on G-Shock GPS is quiet summarily, the DW-6400 models featured three novelties. The B version was the first G-Shock model that not had a resin strap, but a woven/leather strap (like the Crazy Gangsters strap, featured last week). Both the B and C version have the wrist rest shock absorbers used for the first time. These wrist rests are known for their comfortable wear. These wrist rest were recently used again on the G-001 and the G(W)-7900 models.

Most eye catching is of course the use of metal in the bezel (cover of the case). Unlike the later MT-G and MR-G models, the DW-6400 still has resin bumpers, protecting the case and display. In the 4 corners of the metal part of the bezel there are 4 screws with an hex key socket. I think these screws are pure cosmetics. I recommend never to try to unscrew bezel screws. Often they are glued in the bezel. These screws add quite to the tough look of the watch. I would not be surprised if, at the release in 1994, this was the biggest G-Shock ever made.

The module number of the DW-6400 is 901. This was not an unknown module at that time. This module can be found on the later DW-5600C, DW-5700C and DW-5800 models. A month later Casio used this module also on the DW-5300.

The 901 module has an Alarm function that can be set as a daily alarm, but also can be set on a date. If you only fill in a day number, the alarm will sound on the programmed time when the day number of the month has reached, if only the month number is programmed, the alarm will only sound during that month.

The Dual Time function is pretty primitive. Where on modern G-Shocks the World Time function is linked to Greenwich Mean Time from where you can choose many time zones, linked to big world cities, on the DW-6400 you can program Dual Time independent from the main time. Only the seconds synchronize with the main time.

The Countdown Timer and the Stopwatch function are just simple and both of the 24 hour type. The Countdown Timer can be programmed to the second. In this mode you can also see the time in the small rectangle in the top of the display. Since the Stopwatch measures in 100th of a second, the hours are displayed that rectangle.

A bit funny extra function is the Reminder Function. Above the seconds, under the rectangle, you find the text REM. If you have to remember something very important, you can set a reminder by push and hold the bottom right button. This function can be seen as the digital version of “Tie a Knot in your Handkerchief”. The basic idea of the know in your handkerchief is that when you have to perform an important task (when I did a search I found a tasks like: cleaning the hamster cage, watching your favorite TV program), you will reminded to this task every time you blow your nose in your handkerchief. Now you are reminded to your task by a blinking digit next to the REM mark on the display. Only thing you have to remind now is what that task was.

This watch is released 5 months before the first DW-6600. As the DW-6600 marks the introduction of the EL backlight, the DW-6400 therefore does not have an EL backlight. Instead there is a small lamp bulb (microlight). This lightbulb only lit up when the light button is pressed. This means the light stays on as long as you need to read time. There is no afterglow, like found on all models with an electro luminescence backlight.

The Gundam is a great watch to have in your collection. If you collect vintage G-Shocks, this would be a “Must Have” for your colllection. It has an unique look, even compared with the DW-81XX and DW-8300 models. I just changed the strap on one of my Gundams (I have 2 of them). It’s original strap was torn and after I changed the strap, it appeared you could easily tear the strap. Luckily a spare strap is still available. I got mine from Tiktox.com, one of the best places to get spare parts for G-Shocks. Still, when a model is not produced longer than 10 years, spare parts are harder to get and are not restocked from Casio. The new strap feels a bit rubberish, like it’s old strap. This means the strap will follow the natural form of the wrist, so that this strap is pretty comfortable. Also the wrist rest add to the comfortable wear.

The Gundam was produced in pretty large numbers and was available worldwide. Still this does not mean it is easy to find. It’s simply a watch that has been released 18 years ago and at this time it’s not easy to find one. It’s hard to put a price on this model. I have paid pretty low prices for the two I have (one is in very good condition, probably hardly worn), probably under €50.-. If you look good at auction sites, you might still find one for a good price, but when I did a search over eBay and Yahoo Auctions Japan, I could only three Gundams and the lowest bidding price was ¥12500 (€115.-, $150). Like I have written in my other articles in this Gundam/Techno series, I would love to see that Casio would make a new updated model, which looks like these classic models.

All right, that's too good to be true. In real it's a little darker than on the photo below...